California Polytechnic University At San Luis Obispo

One warm Friday night in late spring 10 years ago, Kristin Denise Smart and three other young women started walking from their dorms at Cal Poly San Luis Obispo. They were headed for the neighborhoods of apartment complexes and overpopulated "Animal House"-like bungalows that border the campus. They were looking for a party. It was Memorial Day weekend. Kristin's first year away at college was coming to a close. The 19-year-old from Stockton would have considered that something to celebrate.

When officials at Cal Poly San Luis Obispo scheduled a free lecture by bestselling author Michael Pollan, they envisioned a lively talk about sustainable food, along with Pollan's customary critiques of agribusiness. What they didn't expect was a wave of denunciations from angry farming and ranching alumni who rank Pollan as a force only slightly less damaging to agriculture than the Mediterranean fruit fly. Threatening to pull his donations, the head of one of California's biggest ranching operations succeeded in turning today's planned lecture into a panel discussion involving Pollan, a meat-science expert, and a major grower of organic lettuce.

Sheva Diagne, a high school senior with strong grades and SAT scores, is intrigued by the array of options for college. She has applied to a long list of top institutions, public and private, and anticipates struggling with her final choice. But it was easy for her to rule out one of the first schools she visited, California State Polytechnic University, San Luis Obispo.

If Cal Poly San Luis Obispo had wanted to start an engineering program for a university in someplace like Norway, the proposal probably would have sailed through without much comment either on campus or off. But the school's plan to start an engineering department in Saudi Arabia is a different story.

The Cal Poly men's water polo team will get to put out its nearly nude calendar after all. At least with the help of some strategically placed computer graphics. A compromise of sorts has been struck between the team and sports administrators at Cal Poly San Luis Obispo after two weeks of controversy over the calendar. Its single photo showed 22 helmeted players with water polo balls in place of their missing Speedos.

A former professor and chairman of one of the largest departments at Cal Poly was arrested Tuesday on two felony charges of possessing child pornography on his university computer. FBI agents arrested Safwat Moustafa, 63, in the morning at his home in Grover Beach -- about 10 miles south of San Luis Obispo -- on federal charges involving more than 60 images, according to U.S. Department of Justice officials. Moustafa appeared before federal Magistrate Judge Willard McEwan Jr.

When officials at Cal Poly San Luis Obispo scheduled a free lecture by bestselling author Michael Pollan, they envisioned a lively talk about sustainable food, along with Pollan's customary critiques of agribusiness. What they didn't expect was a wave of denunciations from angry farming and ranching alumni who rank Pollan as a force only slightly less damaging to agriculture than the Mediterranean fruit fly. Threatening to pull his donations, the head of one of California's biggest ranching operations succeeded in turning today's planned lecture into a panel discussion involving Pollan, a meat-science expert, and a major grower of organic lettuce.

An engineering professor at Cal Poly San Luis Obispo has launched a campaign to ban the use of school computers to view pornography, igniting debate over the limits of academic freedom. Linda Vanasupa, chairwoman of the materials engineering department, plans to introduce a resolution in April before the academic senate to impose the ban.

Civic leaders, Cal Poly officials and the school's students plan to meet today to begin assessing the future of Poly Royal, an annual campus festival marred by two straight nights of rioting last weekend. About 110 youths were arrested and 100 injured in the disturbances, authorities and hospital officials said. One Cal Poly student suffered a serious head injury and was listed in stable condition Sunday night at a local hospital.

The new kids on the chopping block live here, playing in a nondescript gymnasium on a sleepy campus nestled among rolling hills and fertile farmland in the shadow of Madonna Mountain. One preseason poll had the Cal Poly San Luis Obispo Mustangs ranked last among the NCAA's 302 Division I men's basketball teams. In another, the Mustangs were No. 301.

Officials at Cal Poly San Luis Obispo announced a $60-million pledge to the school's architecture department Wednesday, calling it the largest gift in the history of the California State University system. The anonymous donation is from a "very, very successful entrepreneur" who studied architecture at the school until financial difficulties forced him to drop out, said Henri T. de Hahn, head of Cal Poly's 850-student architecture department.

One warm Friday night in late spring 10 years ago, Kristin Denise Smart and three other young women started walking from their dorms at Cal Poly San Luis Obispo. They were headed for the neighborhoods of apartment complexes and overpopulated "Animal House"-like bungalows that border the campus. They were looking for a party. It was Memorial Day weekend. Kristin's first year away at college was coming to a close. The 19-year-old from Stockton would have considered that something to celebrate.

A Cal Poly San Luis Obispo student who sued the school for allegedly violating his 1st Amendment rights reached a settlement with the university this week. The school promised to expunge Steve Hinkle's disciplinary record and to pay $40,000 in legal fees. Hinkle, a 23-year-old industrial technology major, was reprimanded in November 2002 after several students complained that fliers he had posted in the school's multicultural center were offensive.

Cal Poly San Luis Obispo has received a pledge of $7 million from trial attorney Joseph Cotchett to fund an initiative to provide more mathematics and science teachers in low-income areas. The program will include training for teachers who will commit to working in low-income neighborhoods, a summer professional development program for educators already in those neighborhoods and scholarships for aspiring teachers.

Sheva Diagne, a high school senior with strong grades and SAT scores, is intrigued by the array of options for college. She has applied to a long list of top institutions, public and private, and anticipates struggling with her final choice. But it was easy for her to rule out one of the first schools she visited, California State Polytechnic University, San Luis Obispo.

SAN LUIS OBISPO The discovery of endangered snails halted the environmental review of a planned 2,700-bed dormitory at Cal Poly San Luis Obispo. It will delay completion of the report, but it's not expected to affect the construction phase of the project, said school official Larry Kelley. Fourteen Morro shoulderband snails, which are on the federal list of endangered species, were found during a recent inspection, the university said.

Computer rankings aren't something that most Division I basketball coaches boast about. After all, if your team's not good enough for a real ranking--of the Associated Press or USA Today variety--you probably shouldn't be bragging about it. But at Cal Poly San Luis Obispo, people are proud to announce to anyone who asks that the Mustangs are now No. 222 in the nationally recognized Jeff Sagarin computer rankings.

An annual spring festival at Cal Poly spawned a violent melee in the city streets Friday night and early Saturday as more than 1,000 revelers vandalized cars, homes and businesses before police used tear gas and high-pressure water hoses to disperse the mobs. The crowd hurled bricks, rocks and beer bottles at police, who called in reinforcements dressed in full riot gear from throughout San Luis Obispo and Santa Barbara counties.

Three Latino students rejected by Cal Poly San Luis Obispo have sued the state university, contending that its admission system had illegally discriminated against them by giving undue weight to SAT scores and favoring applicants from the geographic area around the campus. Thomas A.

All Kameron Gray wants for Christmas is his front right tooth. The Cal Poly San Luis Obispo point guard already has a victory over USC. After losing the tooth on a foul late in the first half Monday night at the Sports Arena, the sophomore keyed the Mustangs' late run to embarrass the Trojans, 93-78, before an announced crowd of 3,083. "This was just about getting our respect," said the 6-foot-1, 170-pound Gray, who had a game-high 32 points, 19 in the second half, and 12 rebounds.